THE MOMENT
"My name is Minerva, and I represent Chroma Corp.," the tall woman answered the lean, serpentine man. She arrived and walked right into his cave unannounced when he made himself known and asked her business.
"If that's supposed to mean something to me, it doesn't," Lozzair shrugged as he looked up to meet her eyes. In his human form, Lozzair was only about 7 feet tall, and she still stood over a foot taller with a muscular frame. He was slight and gaunt and could hide four of himself in her width.
Lozzair was an old dragon who'd seen his share of adventurers. Minerva was unlike any of those, and it was surprising on some level. She wore a crisp platinum suit with a polished chrome tie, not any armor nor magical robes. However, the most impressive thing to Lozzair was her confidence. He'd seen hundreds of muscleheads confident in their strength, but that wasn't where hers came from. He watched her carefully as she approached and answered his question. She appeared to be completely secure in herself, and it had nothing to do with her obvious power; if anything, she seemed to be trying to downplay her physical might. He hoped she wasn't there for a fight.
"If it doesn't yet, it will," Minerva smiled as she nodded. "At the moment, I'm here to investigate claims from the nearby village. They've been sending you a child every month, and they'd like to stop doing that. If they can, then we have no problems. If it's going to be an issue, then you have a very big problem," she said.
"What?" Lozzair laughed and sent a telepathic call to his pupils. "Why don't we ask them who they blame?" he continued chuckling as almost two dozen children emerged from deeper in the cave. They walked out from behind the mountainous piles of gold with martial or magical tools ready.
"We've learned a lot from Lozzair." The tallest, and likely oldest, said. It was an athletic teen boy holding a heavy two-handed axe.
"They're alive, that's a good surprise," Minerva smiled as her eyes roamed over the children. They all looked healthy and combat-ready even. But not a single one of them was smiling. "Why?" she asked Lozzair. "Are you just training them? There's nothing wrong with that...," she said it to him, then she looked at the kids. "Don't you all want to visit your parents?" she asked.
"NO!" Lozzair laughed harder. "WHY would they!?? They were all given up to me; they saw how their parents really feel about them."
"I was asking them, not you," Minerva said. She stared coldness into his eyes to make sure he got the point, then she turned back to the kids. "Well?"
"Ask them! Ask them who they blame! Their parents walked them right into my lair and said, 'here's dinner'. I took them in! I'm taking care of them and teaching them all they need to know."
"You can tell me," Minerva nodded at the children. She took a couple of steps forward to put herself between them and Lozzair. She was big enough to obscure him completely. "Who do you blame?" she asked.
"HIM!" The oldest one pointed with his axe, and the others instantly agreed. "HE'S KEEPING US HERE!" another child added.
"Not anymore," Minerva smiled and nodded again. She turned and gestured at the cave opening in a way that left her immense fist very near Lozzair's head. "Go on home. I don't think he's evil, just very stupid," she giggled as she met Lozzair's eyes again. The kids didn't need any further encouragement to all dash out of the cave, leaving Minerva alone with Lozzair.
"Chroma Corp. is owned by dragons, and we do extensive business with dragons from across the multiverse," she said. "Your methods are completely wrong, but I think maybe you could learn to do better. If you want to teach children, we can find a place for you. And, it won't require you threatening any villages, or keeping them prisoner."
"They gave their children to me...," Lozzair was still trying to process his defeat.
"Because you threatened them," Minerva nodded. "It's not like they were just abandoning kids on your doorstep, you forced them to endure those hard decisions with your demands. And, you were keeping them against their will."
"Wait, did you say multiverse?" He was eager to change the subject now, and that was easily the best topic.
"If you come with me," Minerva dropped a black card on the floor, and it expanded into a dark portal, then she stepped on it as a solid surface. She encouraged him to stand on it with her. "... I'll show you what Chroma Corp. should mean to you."